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I love painting on my deck on these summer mornings. I should be in the studio working on larger paintings and some commissions, but, my flowers are gorgeous right now, and I need to paint them. I spend a couple of hours painting out there before it gets too hot and then I'm happy to get in the air conditioning and work on other things.

Potted Begonias

10x10 oil

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Here's the third in my series of gardenia paintings. Go to jackinewell.com to see the set, they look nice together. Today, I set these poor little babies in the sun to paint them. Bad idea. I blocked the shapes of the blossoms in and then worked on the vase, foreground and background, and by the time I got back to the flowers, the poor little things were drooping and were in completely different places than when I had block in their shapes originally. I had to guess what they looked like while still fresh. "Note to self" -paint the flowers first when they are in the hot sun.

My first encounter with gardenias was as a bridesmaid at my friend, Ruth's wedding, many years ago. I hung my gardenia filled bridesmaid bouquet above my bed and smelled the sweet fragrance for weeks. I've always loved them since then and now, since moving to the south, I have them growing in my yard! I picked these today and placed them in my fav little vase from my daughter, Jaimi. I painted them on my deck. Thoroughly enjoy this time of year.

I took time away from the commission that I've been working on to paint the begonias on my deck that have been calling my name. I have been so attracted to red-orange lately, especially with turquoise.

"Red and Orange Begonias"

6x6 Oil

$150 plus shipping

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During my 3 days in Charleston, I spent Saturday morning on a beautiful, quiet street in Charleston. I stood on the corner of Tradd and Church facing the Coleman Gallery. What a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning. There were guided tour groups by horse drawn wagon and on foot that came by regularly, so I learned some interesting things about the history of that neighborhood. I guess it was the red light district, way back in the day.

"Corner of Church and Tradd, Charleston, SC" by Jacki Newell

11x14 oil

unframed

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I love living in a state that has gardenias everywhere you look!! I bought a little gardenia plant 3 years ago at the farmers market in downtown Greenville and had been waiting ever since then for it to bloom! Mainly, because I wanted to paint some gardenias but also, since it was planted just below my bedroom window, I wanted to be able to smell them as I sit here at my computer. Finally, this year, it has made up for lost time and is covered in gorgeous, fragrant blooms and today I painted one. It took much longer to paint than I wanted it to, but hopefully, with some practice I can get the hang of painting them well.

I love this little bottle vase. My daughter Jaimi gave it to me. It's our favorite color of glass.